Archbishop Foley Fond of Latin

March 24, 2004
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LONDON, MARCH 24, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications would like to see some Latin back into the Mass.

Archbishop John Foley made his comments in an interview with Briefing, the relaunched official journal of the Catholic bishops' conferences of England and Wales, and Scotland.

He was present at the Second Vatican Council as a young priest and reporter for Philadelphia's diocesan newspaper. He says that some intentions of the Council Fathers have been implemented properly, and some have not.

"There have been abuses in some areas ... for example, some of the liturgical abuses where people inaccurately interpreted documents, causing confusion and resentment," he told Briefing.

Archbishop Foley still celebrates the Mass in Latin sometimes, and even speaks Latin with some non-English-speaking bishops. The universal nature of the language impresses him.

"That's why I think it is important to be able to train people to participate in Mass in Latin, especially the sung part," he said.

"Ironically, when people did not travel very much, Mass was in Latin," he added. "Now that they travel a lot and want to be able to understand and identify with what's going on; [they can't because] they don't speak the local language."